Tubi's Super Bowl 2023 commercial pranks fans

Publish date: 2024-05-04

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Tubi’s fan support may be going down the tubes following the brand’s polarizing Super Bowl 2023 commercial.

The streaming service dropped a 15-second ad on Sunday titled “Interface Interruption” that fooled viewers into thinking they missed part of the big game.

The commercial began with Fox Sports announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen speaking, and it looked like the football event was back on.

However, in a flash, it appeared as though someone was flipping though Tubi’s viewing library on the TV app for something to watch.

People were confused and believed they had lost their TV remote and were missing the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35.

“No, you didn’t sit on the remote. But on Super Bowl Sunday, we fooled audiences into thinking they did,” the company captioned its ad when it was posted on YouTube yesterday.

Fans’ jaws dropped when they saw Tubi’s commercial — and they weren’t happy with the video.

“That Tubi commercial came on & I yelled at every single person in this room,” someone tweeted after its airing.

“Tubi should be sued for this,” added another angry fan.

The “Morning Brew” Twitter account joked that “Tubi really paid 7 mil to make us all think we sat on the remote…”

A viewer chimed in: “I almost threw out my tv during that Tubi commercial. I thought I was hacked.”

One user was impressed, noting how Tubi’s marketing team was smart. “Now, that Tubi commercial had some people about to throw hands. Another great example of INCREDIBLE marketing,” they said. “Tubi made us upset thinking we were about to miss the game (trying to find the remote) all while showcasing their platform. Genius.”

I almost threw out my tv during that Tubi commercial 😭 I thought I was hacked

— solé (@layxsnv) February 13, 2023

Another fan quipped: “Half the country just yelled ‘who the f–k has the remote’ at that Super Bowl commercial @Tubi.”

“That tubi commercial was brilliant. It literally gave everyone in the room a visceral reaction looking for who was sitting on the remote. So smart,” someone else gushed.

Greg Hahn, co-founder of ad agency Mischief — who produced the clip — said in a statement that Tubi’s team “came to us with a unique brief for the streaming sector: Reveal Tubi to the world, personality-first. Not title-first.”

“These spots reveal a personality we’ve had fun creating over the past few months: quirky, playful and a bit unexpected. Tubi is poised to be the troublemaker of the streaming world,” Hahn explained.

A medley of other commercials made their multimillion-dollar debuts during Sunday night’s game — with celebrities such as Bradley Cooper, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and many more starring in the ads.

Upcoming movies also dropped much-anticipated trailers for projects such as Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “The Flash,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Creed III.”

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